Sports

U. S. women's hoops squashes Nigeria, gets to Olympic semis

.Brian Windhorst, ESPN Elderly Person WriterAug 7, 2024, 05:28 PM ETCloseESPN.com NBA author considering that 2010.Dealt With Cleveland Cavs for seven years.Writer of pair of booksPARIS-- The combination of A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart has actually confirmed to become a devasting combination for the Group USA females, to the point where there is a situation creating that they could possibly discuss the Olympics Most Belongings Gamer Award.But there is actually a brand-new duo emerging, though certainly not a shocking one, that's proved to become a significant improvement as the Americans pursue an additional gold medal.Las Las vega Aces colleagues Kelsey Plum as well as Jackie Youthful have boosted to become difference-makers in France and also played key tasks in Team U.S.A.'s 88-74 victory over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.It denoted the crew's 59th successive Olympic victory and also puts together a semifinal competition against Australia, champions over Serbia Wednesday, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.Jackie Youthful do with double-digit aspects for the second straight video game, firing 60% from the field in the USA' draw Nigeria. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCoach Cheryl Reeve moved Youthful right into the starting sequence in place of pro Diana Taurasi versus Nigeria, a group known for playing higher pressure full-court defense that challenges setting against guards.It was actually a benefit after Youthful scored 19 aspects along with 4 takes off the seat in the final pool play game versus Germany. She responded along with one more exceptional efficiency, having fun with electricity at both ends alongside one more Aces ally, Chelsea Gray, in the backcourt.Young racked up 15 aspects and also assisted lug the U.S. outburst early in the activity as the Americans got off to a little a slow-moving start through their standards.Nigeria lagged by simply 4 points midway with the 2nd fourth. That's when Reeve went to Plum, who was actually the 12th and last player to go into the game for the Americans. Plum quickly modified the game with her death and also velocity on the objectionable end, dispensing three quick assists and toenailing a 3-pointer. Plum completed with just six points yet her six-minute change to complete the initial fifty percent resulted in a plus-11 on the scoreboard to push the cause 19 at half. The united state then started the second half on a 15-0 operate and the stress and anxiety was actually provided for the evening.Editor's Picks1 RelatedWilson and Stewart, that came into the activity balancing a matching 20.3 scores per activity, played their brand of proficient tormenter sphere. Wilson placed in twenty aspects on 9-of-11 shooting along with 11 rebounds as well as pair of blocks. Stewart had thirteen points on 5-of-7 shooting with five rebounds as well as 3 assists.Brittney Griner went over the seat to credit rating 11 ideas on 4-of-5 firing. Those 3 indoor scorers combining for 16-of-21 is difficult to beat.The united state entered into the video game balancing 29 supports as well as again applied a ball-sharing center by assembling 31 more.Promise Amukamara led Nigeria, which reduced the lead down to as low as 13 in the fourth one-fourth, with 19 scores. The video game finished along with a little upper hand when the USA's Kahleah Copper acquired a technological nasty for tossing the reception at Nigeria's Ezinne Kalu after she scored in the last few seconds.